Napa California

This past week Ben and I went to visit his family - Sharon, Donald & Jaquelyn - in Napa, California.  We had lots of fun drinking all kinds of good wine and visiting a lot of the local sites.  

After we arrived we went to the city to have lunch at the Cliff House restaurant which overlooks the ocean.  The food was really good and the view was even better!  Next we went to the Annie Leibovitz's photographic exhibit at the Honor of Legion.  Her work is so inspiring - no wonder she is the celebrity's photographer of choice.  Here is a pic taken in Golden Gate National Park of Sharon (Ben's mom), Ben and I.

The next day we went to see the Redwoods in Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve.  The redwoods are so amazing with their sheer size and presence.  
We decided to get up at the crack of dawn and go for a hot air balloon ride on Friday.  We could not have asked for better weather for the flight.  It was so peaceful up above the vineyards and farms.  

You can't have a trip to Napa Valley without having wine.  We stopped by Napa Valley Farms and had a private tasting in their back room.   Ben and Russia (the wine dog) are spending some quality time together as we all enjoy a glass of Cabernet.

On Saturday we went to Bodega Bay and went for a horseback ride on the beach (sorry no pics from that). On the way back we stopped and picked up some fresh oysters that were plucked from the bay earlier in the day.  Donald barbecued them up with either BBQ sauce or garlic & butter. They were divine!  Of course the wine fairy stopped by for dinner and brought lots of wine to enjoy.

We had the opportunity to go sailing on opening day on San Francisco Bay with Sharon's friends - Dan & Allison.  It was Ben & I's first time sailing and it was really fun!  We headed out from the city to go out to the Golden Gate Bridge.  There was a whale spotted out there earlier in the day but we did not see it.  Ben is sailing the boat here as we approach the Golden Gate Bridge - it gets a little squirrelly after this so Dan takes over to take us under the bridge.
Going under the Golden Gate Bridge heading out to the ocean.
I got to sail for a bit on the way back.  It is a lot harder to keep the boat on the right course than it looks.